


The Cruelest Sacrifice

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic 2019 [33]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Demons, Established Relationship, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Portals, Prompt Fill, Sacrifice, Swordplay, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 02:15:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19736299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for TV Crossovers prompt:Stargate Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Buffy the Vampire Slayer fusion (a la Buffy/Angel relationship)In which John's curse has been lifted and Rodney loses everything.





	The Cruelest Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> TV Fusion: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (specifically season 2 ep Becoming Part Two, and not related to my other Buffy fusion)
> 
> Also written for H/C Bingo: lacerations/knife wounds

Rodney had never been great at compartmentalizing at the best of times. These were _not_ the best of times.

“How do you think this ends, McKay?” John asked. “You won’t beat me. You’re too soft.”

Rodney swung the sword with one hand, trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. He would’ve died for John, once. Before the curse lifted and John’s soul was taken away again. Before he once again embraced his cruel alter-ego, the one documented in the old Watcher journals: Black Ian.

“I’m the Slayer,” Rodney reminded him. “It’s right there in the title.”

He could talk the talk all day long. That was the easy part. But Rodney didn’t know if he could do the deed. He loved John, more than he’d ever loved anyone or anything. Even now, after everything John had done.

Not John, Rodney reminded himself. Black Ian.

“Is that supposed to scare me?” John taunted, swinging his own sword. The one he’d removed from the statue of Acathla, the one he’d used to make his blood sacrifice so he could open a portal to Hell. “You forget how well I know you, McKay. What you’re afraid of. What gives you nightmares. I know all your weaknesses.”

He leered at Rodney, who flushed in response. John was right. He knew how to hurt Rodney, just as he’d known how to hurt all of Rodney’s friends. Even if Radek had been able to figure out the spell that would return John’s soul – the longest of long shots – things could never be the same between them. He’d tortured and nearly killed Radek. He’d killed Sha’re, his Watcher’s girlfriend, and then kidnapped Dr. Jackson to make him suffer even more than he already was. 

There were some things that could never be undone.

“I never thought I’d say this, but you talk too much.”

Rodney charged and John met him halfway, swords clanging. They moved around the ballroom in a deadly dance, thrusting and parrying in a gross mockery of the intimacy that had landed them in this situation to start with. One moment of pure happiness, the two of them joined as close as two people could be.

One moment of happiness that might destroy the world as they knew it.

Rodney was all too aware that he had to make his move. Acathla was slowly coming to life and the window to end things was getting smaller and smaller. He only hoped that Evan was able to get Dr. Jackson out of the mansion and to safety. There was no saving John, but he could save everyone else. He had to.

“This ends now,” Rodney said. 

He was sure he was gaining the upper hand, but the next thing he knew John delivered a kick to Rodney’s wrist and his sword was flying out of his now-numb hand, landing on the marble floor with a loud clatter. John pointed his sword at Rodney’s throat, the point a hair’s breadth from the delicate skin there.

“You’re right. It’s time to end this. And where are all your friends, McKay? Who’s going to help you now?”

Rodney closed his eyes, chest heaving from exertion and fear. He couldn’t stand looking at John, seeing how cold and hard he’d become. The bashful, caring, heroic vampire with a soul was gone. One of them had to die today. And one of them had to kill.

He felt John move, used his Slayer senses just like Luke Skywalker used the Force to sense the trajectory of the sword. When John tried to plunge it into Rodney’s throat, Rodney stopped it. He caught it between his hands, blade biting just a little into the meat of his palms.

He opened his eyes. “I have me. And that’s always been enough.”

Rodney managed to catch John by surprise and was able to wrench the sword out of his hands. There was no time to wallow in his victory. Acathla had to be stopped, so Rodney pushed John hard, drove him back until he was pressed against the statue. It was now or never. Rodney had to make the killing blow.

And then John jerked and stumbled, shaking his head.

“Rodney? What…what’s going on?”

“John?” 

Rodney was certain he was going to throw up. What the hell was going on? Why was John suddenly looking like himself? The curse. Radek must’ve figured it out. His timing fucking sucked.

“Rodney?”

John looked so confused. Behind him, Acathla opened his mouth and a hell portal started to form. Rodney had known he’d be making a sacrifice, but now…now it was almost more than he was willing to pay.

“Everything’s fine,” Rodney said, the lie sticking in his throat like a burr. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

_Blood opens it, blood closes it._

He leaned in and kissed John, and it was like ashes in his mouth. 

“Close your eyes,” he said, watching the vortex grow.

“Why?”

“Please, John.” 

John obediently closed his eyes, because he trusted Rodney. Once upon a time they’d trusted each other.

“I’ll never stop loving you,” Rodney whispered.

He could hear the denizens of the hell dimension drawing closer. They’d be through the vortex soon, and it would literally be hell on Earth. Rodney was the Slayer and he had a responsibility not even love could get in the way of.

Before his resolve failed him, while he was still clinging to what he knew was right, Rodney drove the sword through John’s chest. It slid through his flesh, scraped along his bones, and Rodney felt all of it through the hilt of the sword, felt as if his own heart had been pierced. John’s eyes flew open, impossibly wide, and he looked down at himself. He didn’t seem to be able to say anything, though he was trying. Blood pooled at the corners of his mouth.

Rodney couldn’t breathe. He could only stand there, shaking from head to toe, eyes burning with tears. John looked up at him, confusion and betrayal and pain in his eyes. Still he reached out for Rodney. 

“I’m so sorry,” Rodney choked. He wished he’d let John kill him. Wished he didn’t have to feel the pain, the loss, the agony. Wished he’d killed John when they first met and John was only another vamp to get dusted.

_Blood closes it._

John was sucked back into the vortex, sucked into Hell with his soul intact. And then both he and the vortex blinked out of existence, leaving Rodney alone in the ballroom.

Rodney dropped to his knees, threw his head back, and screamed his grief. There was no-one there to hear it.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** Oh, this prompt. I was thinking about it while I was at Second Job washing an endless parade of dishes, and it could only be angsty. Buffy and Angel are a doomed couple. And so John and Rodney would have to be as well.
> 
> If you’re not familiar with the Buffy fandom, Angel does come back from Hell. Fully restored with his soul intact. (I almost tagged this temporary character death.) But the angst doesn’t stop, because of what he did as Angelus and because he and Buffy can’t be together in all the ways they want to be. Angel eventually left Sunnydale and moved to Los Angeles to keep up the fight against the forces of darkness. 
> 
> So if you're looking for a happy follow-up, there won't be one. I'm really sorry. ::passes around surplus sized box of tissues::


End file.
